Los Angeles Times - 13.03.2020

C6 FRIDAY, MARCH 13, 2020 WST LATIMES.COM/BUSINESS

health policy and manage-
ment at UCLA.
To date, most movement
on the telemedicine front
has involved bringing re-
mote care to rural areas,
typically by telephone or
videoconferencing.
The next phase will be
more focused on treating
people at home regardless
of where they live, using
broadband internet access
and online diagnostic tests
to diagnose and treat prob-
lems.
Online glasses compa-
nies provide an example of
how some entrepreneurial
businesses are embracing
technology to transform
patient and consumer expe-
riences.
They’ve already miti-
gated some of the risk of
buying glasses via the inter-
net with “virtual try-on”
tools and apps that allow
you to see how you’d look in
frames without actually
putting them on.
The next big advance will
be online eye exams — an
innovation that, according
to some industry players,
could be just around the
corner.
Darren Rosenberg, chief
executive of L.A.-based
Lens & Frame Co., told me
he’s in talks with an Israeli
company that believes it’s
close to a workable digital
eye exam that could elimi-
nate the need to see an
optometrist.
“They say they’re six
months to a year away,”
Rosenberg said.
This seems highly opti-
mistic, considering any such
test would need approval
from the Food and Drug
Administration before
being offered to consumers.
“I tend to agree,” Rosen-
berg admitted.
On the other hand, it’s
entirely possible that regu-
latory agencies worldwide
will hit the gas pedal when it
comes to telemedicine
ventures, overcoming resist-
ance from office- and hospi-
tal-based practitioners who
see remote care as a threat
to their livelihoods.
“We see it speeding up,”
Sean Pate, a spokesman for
Zenni Optical, one of the
largest online glasses
stores, said of digital eye
exams.

“The tools are effectively

built already,” he observed.

“Now it’s mostly a matter of

getting them approved.”

That could be easier said

than done. Trade groups

representing brick-and-

mortar optometrists have

staunchly opposed any

move toward online eye

exams, which could have a

devastating effect on their

industry.

Last year, a Chicago

company called Visibly

stopped offering the first

widely available online eye

exam after fierce lobbying

by the American Optome-

tric Assn.

The FDA had warned

Visibly that it lacked the

needed regulatory blessing

for its approximately $50

test, which involved the

company’s ophthalmolo-

gists reviewing online exam

results and then issuing a

prescription.

“Optometrists and other

physicians know that eye

exams are essential care

and that new health tech-

nologies must always en-

hance the doctor-patient

relationship and help deliv-

er improved outcomes,”

said Barbara L. Horn, presi-

dent of the American Op-

tometric Assn.

“They must also comply

with the law — that’s exactly

what the AOA and our state

associations have insisted

on through the information

we provided to the FDA and

other agencies in this mat-

ter,” she said.

Zenni’s Pate said this

was taken by the online

glasses industry as a clear

message from both the FDA

and brick-and-mortar rivals

that the time wasn’t yet

right for online exams.

The coronavirus could

change that.

“The big online providers

are going to be a major

resource for people” as the

virus spreads, Pate said,

adding that Zenni is already

hard at work on its own

digital exam.

Meanwhile, the co-

ronavirus exposed a weak-

ness of the online glasses

business. Most of the cut-

rate frames and lenses

offered by these companies

are manufactured abroad,

primarily in China.

Many Chinese factories

were forced to shut down

temporarily as the co-

ronavirus spread through-

out the country.

“We came to a screeching

halt right after the Chinese

New Year” in January, Pate

said. “We were backed up for

about two weeks.”

He said Zenni’s Chinese

factories are now once

again operating at full ca-

pacity.

All the online glasses

companies I spoke with said

they don’t want to be seen

as opportunistically exploit-

ing a global health crisis.

But they recognize that

great upheaval often brings

about great change, and

online glasses sales could be

at a turning point as con-

sumers increasingly give it a

try — just as they did years

ago with their first online

clothing purchase.

“People aren’t going to

malls anymore,” said Andy

Bilinsky, chief executive of

L.A.-based Lensabl, which

hopes to next month add

contact lenses to its

online frame and lens offer-

ings.

“We’re finding them

where they’re going now —

Facebook, Instagram,” he

said.

Bilinsky observed that

home try-ons such as the

service offered by Warby

Parker, as well as virtual

try-ons that are now a main-

stay of nearly all online

glasses stores, have over-

come the initial hesitation

many consumers might

have about buying glasses

over the internet.

People also are gradually

becoming more adept at

adjusting frames on their

own, he said. There are

plenty of videos online that

show how it’s done.

Internet eye exams,

Bilinsky said, will be the

next big hurdle to overcome.

“Everybody believes it’s

inevitable,” he said.

“Whether that’s six months

from now or six years from

now, nobody knows.”

Many experts also see

the broader shift to tele-

medicine as inevitable.

“The worst place you can

be when you are sick is the

doctor’s waiting room,” said

P. Greg Gulick, an adjunct

law professor at Michigan

State University who fo-

cuses on healthcare.

“Telemedicine also al-

lows for the triage of re-

sources — patients who can

remain home can still get a

doctor’s advice, and pa-

tients who need to be seen in

an office or hospital setting

can be seen more immedi-

ately.”

In the meantime, old-

school optometrists such as

Shapiro will do whatever’s

necessary to adapt to

changing (and challenging)

times.

He said he’s stocked his

shop with plenty of hand

sanitizer, and is being even

more diligent than usual in

wiping down equipment

with alcohol.

“You do what you have

to,” Shapiro said.

David Lazarus’ column runs

Tuesdays and Fridays. He

also can be seen daily on

KTLA-TV Channel 5

and followed on Twitter

@davidlaz. Send

your tips or feedback

to david.lazarus

@latimes.com.

The eye doc will see you (remotely) now

THE NEXT BIGadvance in eye care could be online eye exams — an innovation that, according to some in-

dustry players, could be just around the corner. Above, Dr. Jay H. Messinger gives an eye exam in 2010.

Christina HouseLos Angeles Times

[Lazarus,from C1]

‘It is a no-brainer.

Most routine

medical visits

don’t have to be

conducted in

person.’

— Rashid Bashshur,

executive director of eHealth for

the University of Michigan

Health System

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